Replies

1. 
   IMERC | Sep 11, 2007 04:11am | #1

   electric or gas water heater????

   Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming

   WOW!!! What a Ride!
   Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!

2. 
   joeh | Sep 11, 2007 04:42am | #2

   loud wind up clock

   That's the warranty expiring.

   Joe H

1. 
   IMERC | Sep 11, 2007 04:43am | #3

   ROAR!!!!!!!Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->

   WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!

3. 
   DanH | Sep 11, 2007 04:47am | #4

   Well, you probably didn't get the sediment out of the heater, though doing so would not necessarily eliminate the noise. To reasonably flush the heater you generally need to partly drain it (be sure to cut power/gas) and then repeatedly turn on and off the inlet valve, to stir up the layers of muck on the bottom of the unit.

   So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
1. 
   grpphoto | Sep 11, 2007 05:21am | #5

   Please describe the process. Let's say I have a gas heater. So. I drain the tank first? Then leave the drain open and repeatedly open and close the cold water inlet? What's the timing on the open/shut cycle?Thanks,
   George Patterson

   Edited 9/10/2007 10:21 pm ET by grpphoto

1. 
   DanH | Sep 11, 2007 05:54am | #6

   You turn it on full-bore for 15-30 seconds, then let it drain, then turn it on again. You don't need to have the tank fully drained but it should be at least half empty.
   So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin

4. 
   roger g | Sep 13, 2007 03:02am | #7

   Tanks, for whatever reason sometimes make noise just like a ticking clock and it has to do with expansion and contraction. Heating and cooling. I have heard it many times.

   I'm thinking that when you drained it and still heard the noise but slightly less is maybe that it was now cooling (contracting) and there wasn't any water in it to amplify the sound.

   A few months ago I was working on some equipment and I kept hearing a loud ticking noise close by but with being busy and the general noise of the place I didn't investigate it.

   A couple of days later one of the workers came over to have a chat and I mentioned the ticking. He pointed to this huge high pressure air tank about 5 feet in diameter and about 12 feet high. He said it always did it.

   I wasn't impressed but always tried to keep the machine I was working on between me and the tank. Fat lot of good that would do if it blew but I felt I had to at least do something:)

    

   roger

1. 
   stanleyj2 | Sep 15, 2007 05:50am | #8

   Thanks Roger & Others:

   The water heater has stopped making noises but when I was checking the unit out initially, I operated the pressure relief valve and now it leaks about a cup full of water per day.

    

   Stan

    

1. 
   roger g | Sep 15, 2007 06:18am | #9

   You have just discovered the reason why we service people NEVER touched the T/P valve unless we had another in our van:)

    

   roger

2. 
   DanH | Sep 15, 2007 12:56pm | #10

   Operate the valve several more times to see if you can dislodge any crud in there and reseat it. If that doesn't work it's replacement time.
   If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader